Stolen Identity

Chapter 2

I lay there staring up at the ceiling, arms bound behind my back. Time had passed since I woke up and for the past what, fifteen minutes I had just been laying there. My body was probably going into shock I think, wincing at the coarse rope cutting into my wrists. I rolled over onto my front, realising that I was restricted from my ankles as well.

“Damn it!” I curse violently, trying to think of a way out of this. With an enormous amount of effort I rolled back onto my back and shuffled myself into an upright position. Immediately a wave of nausea swept over me and I struggled to stay up. Once I finally managed to get myself together and get my bearings, I noticed the room I was in. It was huge to put it in simple words. It was a very large and very white room. Even though there were no lights, the room still lit up with starkness only white could bring. There was a metal slab of a table in the far corner of the room and several cupboards, each holding various jars and tubes of liquids. Craning my neck behind me, I saw that there was nothing else in the room besides a bucket and a small window.

A very small window. With a sigh I just knew that it was too small for an escape route. I couldn’t climb out of that thing even if I wasn’t bound by these ridiculously rough excuses for ropes. I wiggled my fingers, trying to get the feeling back in them. These ropes are so tight- I could feel the blood cut off from my fingers, bundles of pins and needles being the only thing on my mind. The only sound I could hear was the beating of my heart, hard and steady nonetheless. I raised an eyebrow instantly in confusion. Am I actually calm?

Reality came crashing down upon me and I remembered everything in a sudden gush, like a waterfall upon tranquil waters. In my head the whole scenario played out again and I saw myself walking down the alley, the expression of relief on my face when my attacker had passed me. I remembered everything and now they not only had a hormonal teenage girl on their hands, they also had a girl who wasn’t afraid to let loose and kick some sense into them. Looking down at myself, I realised I was still in the clothes I was in since the attack, which I can only perceive to be a good sign.

I hadn’t even realised I was holding my breath until I let it out in a fast sudden rush of air.

I have to leave. That’s the long and short of it; I had to leave this white dungeon now or else I don’t know what else will happen to me. They say that when a girl disappears, you have like a three day window before all hope is lost and she is either dead or sent into the world of human trafficking. Flashes of ‘Taken’ crossed my mind and I couldn’t deny the feeling of fear that slivered down my spine. How much time has passed? What if it’s too late I thought desperately and that’s when I lost all sense of common thought and calm.

 Hyperventilating, I shook fearfully, trying to undo the furious knots that restricted my movement. Come on I thought angrily. Come on! Feeling desperate, I started to try and slide my lower body under my bound arms. In that moment of panic, I’d forgotten about the long hours of gymnastics I was forced to attend and remembering it now I privately thanked the mean teacher who had kept me behind countless times for ‘back-chat’. I call it defending my honour but whatever floats your boat Miss Mathews.

Once my arms came into my line of vision, I kneeled forward and started gnawing at the rope fibres, the only thing I held onto being the concept of hope. I pulled and bit and devoured whatever I could of that rope and after a while, I felt the first few feelings of weakness. Grinning I ripped my hands away from them and started to furiously untie my ankles.

Finally I stood, surveying the room carefully. The only thing I concentrated on before was trying to get out of those ropes. Now that I was out of them, I didn’t know what to do next. I hadn’t thought beyond that probably because I didn’t even believe that I would get loose. Grimly, I looked around the stark white room once more. How on earth am I going to leave this place? Sullenly, I glanced back at the small window of opportunity. It gleamed brilliantly, signifying that it was daylight. My legs involuntarily started moving towards them, like some sort of gravitational pull was dragging me towards it. A slither of hope coursed through my veins and I reached out slowly. Maybe, just maybe, I can actually leave. Maybe I can just push the window open and drop down to whatever fall was beyond it. Maybe I could live and find my parents.